Daily Archives: September 6, 2016

“We hoped we could create something that would be indefinitely sustainable.”

The Atlanta Jazz Party was founded in 1990 by Phil and Lee Carroll and family.

For 27 years they produced some of the most memorable events of our lives. They engaged some of the world’s finest jazz musicians to play in Atlanta. Phil scheduled different combinations of musicians, invited jazz lovers from across the country, and his parties took hold. Philip Carroll and Pualani kept it swinging for 8 more years.

WE, say thank you to all of our Guarantors, Patrons, Sponsors, Volunteers, and Attendees of AJP. For those feeling inspired, Atlanta Jazz Party is asking fans to post their favorite memory on Facebook.

“With great regret, Atlanta Jazz Party 2017 has been cancelled. Details regarding refunds will be available shortly.” The company is focusing on issuing/mailing refunds to Atlanta Jazz Party ticket holders. “Thank you for your patience and understanding.”

It’s a very hard decision to make; it’s been 27 years of great memories.

If you are a ticket holder for the Atlanta Jazz Party 2017 event and would like to plan/ exchange your tickets to attend the Atlanta Motoring Festival and Concours d’Elegance from May 19, 20, 2017, please call the AJP hotline 770-645-6844.

“We hoped we could create something that would be indefinitely sustainable,” said Philip Carroll. If interested in hosting & sponsoring the AJP and the world-class musicians please email pualani_chapman@att.net

Finally, it’s time to share the new venture Atlanta Motoring Festival and Concours d’Elegance, a three day weekend event benefiting St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. In 2015 we scheduled a “Soft Event” on May 17th at the Chukkar Farm Polo Club, Alpharetta, Georgia. This year the festival included a series of exciting activities for the classic car enthusiast, including a police escorted tour, a welcome reception and dinner, a gala with live music on Saturday evening presented by the Atlanta Jazz Preservation Society and two days of classic automobiles on display. The Atlanta Athletic Club has extended a multiyear agreement in partnership with Johns Creek. Atlanta Motoring Festival and Concours d’Elegance will have many events over a three day weekend, with the main event held at Heisman Field, the serene green space across from the Atlanta Athletic Club on Saturday, May 20, 2017. It is the beginning of what will become a regular event on the national circuit! We invite local crafters/vendors and worldwide auto-related merchants. Atlanta Jazz Preservation presents live jazz which will be staged to accompany and complement this all-too rare viewing of these fine classic cars.

All the best,

Philip & Pualani Carroll

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I learned this news about two weeks ago, but the thought of spreading the sad news just made me terribly gloomy . . . so I offer it now, belatedly. I made it to the AJP four times only — 2007, 2012, 2014, and 2015 — but I saw the hard work that the whole family did, and I exulted in the great music. Given this news, though, it seems right to post something slow, low, and tender, in honor of a great party and a grand musical tradition. “Tres palabras” here, equals “Goodbye! Thanks! Love!”

No, not Hemingway’s DEATH IN THE AFTERNOON in its most literal sense. Lively hedonism, with no animals harmed.

I’d not heard of Ward 8 Eventsbefore, but their video, cleverly mixing Fleischer-surrealism, hot dance, food and drink in nicely measured portions, convinced me that my life had been arid and bland before this discovery.

They create “multi-disciplinary events unified around a single theme” — but that description isn’t enough. “What they do” is artistic without being pretentious, well-researched without being staid, and it includes things we love: fine food and drink, tap-dancing, hot jazz, and more.

This event is on Saturday, September 10, from 2-6 PM, and here is their description.

“Entitled ‘Death in the Afternoon’ and inspired by the Prohibition Era, the event will take place in a secret backroom of the acclaimed restaurant Raoul’s in Soho, and will include a collection of restaged bootlegger portraits by New York-based photographer David White, performances by The Grand St. Stompers plus a tap dancer from the Downtown Dance Factory, and a special menu of craft cocktails and passed food from Raoul’s chef David Honeysett.”

Raoul’sis a highly-rated French restaurant in Soho, at 180 Prince Street, New York City.

If you’ve never heard or heard of Gordon Au or of his Grand Street Stompers, please click here. (Talk about “life-enhancing”!)

I’d asked the organizer, Fay Leshner, two idle questions to satisfy my curiosities, and her answers are so pointed and witty that I reprint them here:

With “passed food,” we mean “passed” in the sense of distributed by someone else, not in the sense of kidney stones…that said, these are more than your standard cucumber-slice-on-a-saltine – we’ll be offering appetizers and other selections from Raoul’s acclaimed chef, and while it won’t be a sit-down meal I can promise that it will nevertheless stand on its own merits.

As for “Death in the Afternoon” – while we aren’t fans of bullfighting, we are deep admirers of Hemingway’s tireless commitment to the lost art of daydrinking, and we feel that this event will evoke that freewheeling daytime appreciation of the creative spirit (and creatively-mixed spirits) that Ernest and his contemporaries so poetically portrayed in both their art and their lives.

For me, the high point of this event will be another opportunity to hear Gordon Au’s superb band, the Grand Street Stompers, a group I’ve chronicled on JAZZ LIVES since its inception . . . everything else will be gloriously atmospheric additions.